


Moving Day

by basketofnovas (slashmarks)



Series: New Tenancy [1]
Category: The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-15 21:27:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18081206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashmarks/pseuds/basketofnovas
Summary: Chava meets the tenants at her new boardinghouse.





	Moving Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [opalmatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/opalmatrix/gifts).



> I hope my recipient enjoys this! I decided the last chapter looked like a good place for some side stories.

"What do you mean?" Maria asked, gaping, "You've _never_ been to the theater?"

The Golem hadn't expected this to be a problem when she took the room at the new boardinghouse. She wonderedif she would have to leave. But the desires she felt in her fellow lodgers reassured her. They weren't upset or angry; they were excited. She heard a dozen favorite plays come to three or four minds simultaneously, ones she _must_ see as soon as possible.

"We're opening this Friday--" János said behind her. 

"It's barely got a plot!" Maria protested. The Golem heard her think that Chava might be offended by the explicitness of that show and not want to see another. "I can get her tickets to see us tonight--"

"She might have plans tonight," the landlady said. "You'll all have plenty of time to invite her later. Chava, do you need help getting your things upstairs?"

Her desire not to lose income was faint; mostly, she wanted her new tenant to be comfortable and have a chance to rest before being forcibly inducted into the New York theater scene. This desire was reassuring in its kindness, and it gave the Golem somewhere to turn, something to fulfill.

"This is all I have, but I think I need to rest tonight," she said, and smiled reassuringly at Maria. "I would love to see you perform some other night." Maria's desire to please the new tenant - to be liked by her - was satisfied with that.

It didn't take the Golem long to unpack her scant belongings. Most of the apartment she had shared with Michael had been donated, packed up or sold.She could not afford an apartment large enough for them and didn't need many of the things her husband had owned.

She felt a brief pang, thinking of Michael, who had not understood anything about her until the very last, who had died because of Schaalman. She hadn't loved him, but he had been a person, and he should have had a longer life. He should have been able to continue his work. She allowed herself to feel his loss for a moment; then she pushed it away. She had her own life. 

She put away her clothing, her few pieces of jewelry, and found a place for her sewing basket and her ongoing work. She picked up the first piece of mending; and she listened to the minds below her, the fierce, pleasurable argument of the other lodgers about what theater and which play should be the introduction of the new tenant to the theater.

 

A few nights later, she went to see Maria after all. She had expected it to be a solitary trip, since Maria would be performing, but several others lodgers who weren't working came with her.

"You'll have to tell me what she thinks!" Maria said. "Everything she does, everything she looks at."

The Golem was somewhat alarmed by this level of scrutiny; she would probably do something wrong if she was watched that closely. It must have showed, because the landlady said drily, "Maria's young. This is her first season doing anything but chorus work. She'll get used to the attention one of these days."

"Just don't tell her if you hate it or she'll be weeping for days, and my room's next to hers," Rachel said prosaically from the Golem's other side.

Entering, the Golem thought there was little danger that she would hate the play. The excitement of the audience was encouraging, although some of the desires she felt were entirely unrelated to the play. She was not prepared for the cavernous, glittering theater, like a dozen dance halls put together and hollowed out into one space; or the costumes, or the staging, or the lights.

She found herself thinking later that night, _I wonder how Maria's dress is put together_? It looked more interesting than the seams in her repair work. It might be as good as making her wedding dress. 

**Author's Note:**

>  
> 
> A young woman in her theater jacket, 1890s, [from the NYPL digital collections. ](https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-eaa1-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99)


End file.
